Lou Monte: Bella Notte

Listen to the beautiful vowels of Lou Monte singing Bella Notte. His consonants are so crisp and clear that they make his words sound beautiful and so understandable. Also, his vowels are pure and clean. He isn't fudging or altering his vowels at all, which also adds to the clean sound of the words.

He also has lovely breath control to manage the long phrases, the delicate turns and swoons he manages so effortlessly. He is not just sliding around on every whim with no direction or control. You can tell that he knows how he wants to sound and he makes that happen.

Tongue Twister - Good Blood

Tongue Twister

Works the plosive consonants d & b and the plosive voiced "g".

Good

Blood

Bad

Blood

Note: Tongue twisters should be practiced in their purest form, as in using good, pure vowels. It is good to practice the words slowly until they can be said extremely well and then it is recommended that practice be sped up until the words can be spoken very clearly at a quicker tempo. It is also mandatory that much laughing take place in the practice of tongue twisters. Thank you.

Tongue Twister - Peter Piper

Tongue Twister

Works plosive vowel p, a voiceless ejective t, and the voiceless plosive "k".

Peter

Piper

Picked a

Peck

For added difficulty, add the words

"of Pickled Peppers"

to the end.

Note: Tongue twisters should be practiced in their purest form, as in using good, pure vowels. It is good to practice the words slowly until they can be said extremely well and then it is recommended that practice be sped up until the words can be spoken very clearly at a quicker tempo. It is also mandatory that much laughing take place in the practice of tongue twisters. Thank you.

Tongue Twister - Rubber Baby

Tongue Twister

Works plosive consonants b, d, and p and the voiced plosive g. Throwing in the nasal consonant m also adds a little trick.

Rubber

Baby

Buggy

Bumpers

Note: Tongue twisters should be practiced in their purest form, as in using good, pure vowels. It is good to practice the words slowly until they can be said extremely well and then it is recommended that practice be sped up until the words can be spoken very clearly at a quicker tempo. It is also mandatory that much laughing take place in the practice of tongue twisters. Thank you.

Alicia Keys: "No One"

Alicia Keys singing "No One"

The words "days and nights" at the very beginning are very nice.

I think she does well singing "No one" as one can be a difficult word to sing because of the vowel. I also like the word "around" because the diphthong is performed so well. The second part of the vowel is right at the very end of the word, which is perfect. I also love "world" and "have". The vowels are so beautiful.

However, I don't love the way she sings "you", which is fairly often in this song. The reason I struggle is because it sounds more like she's singing "yoohhh", rather than the pure sound of "oo", which makes "you" so beautiful. You can even see her lips as she sings the word, that they are not forming an "oo" shape. This is one reason forming the right shapes with the lips is so crucial.

Kelly Clarkson: "God Bless America"

Kelly Clarkson singing "God Bless America"

The words "beside" and "guide" sound as though they are only "ah" vowels, which isn't exactly the case. These arel diphthong vowels and require the second vowel to make them really pure.

I love her "oh" vowels, as in "home" and "foam".They are perfectly deep for this purpose and have some good clarity.

I don't love her last note as it sounds strained and forced and doesn't lend itself to very much color.

All in all, a quick example of some good vowels & some not so good vowels.

Jessica Simpson: "God Bless America"

Jessica Simpson singing "God Bless America".

 

I think the very first word is lacking in any color. The vowel is very bland. This unfortunately sets up the rest of the song for a poor performance, speaking strictly in the sense of listening for good vowels. I feel as though volume is trying to make up for lack of color in the vowels. The vowels are too wide and not defined enough to make them each beautiful and clear.

Martina McBride: "God Bless America"

Martina McBride singing "God Bless America".

This is the perfect example of a country singer singing a song that is not country.

"Beside", "guide" the first time she sings them are very country {I wish I could think of another way to describe what I hear}. However, the second time she sings them they are deeper and purer.

"prairies", "foam", "home" and "bless" are always very pure and lovely.

At about 2:30 - 2:40 in this song is a fantastic example of using the diaphragm and breath control in singing with a lot of volume and strength and quieting down. That is a great example of the breath energy principle.

Martina McBride: "I Just Call You Mine"

This is Martina McBride singing "I Just Call You Mine."

Pay attention to the words "home" and "known" and notice that the "oh" part of the word is nice and deep, very clear.

The words "mine",  "remind" and "I'm" have the country sounds to them, though, again, that is appropriate for the genre.

"Anything" is the hardest word to understand in this song because of the vowel.

I love the words "fix", "waiting" and "see" because the vowels are so defined. They are pure and there is no fudging. Also, "dream" and "seems" at the beginning are so pretty. They are most definitely "ee" vowels.

I love that.

Sara Evans: "A Little Bit Stronger"

Here is "A Little Bit Stronger" by Sara Evans.

This song has a lot of great and some very specific country only vowels.

The words "stronger" and "days" are always so great for their vowles and clairty.

I also love "feels" and wheels". The "ee" vowel is so clean and crisp.

I love that.

When she sings the words "song", "changed" and "riding", she uses a more twangy approach to the vowels. They are more open and less clean.

I am not saying this is incorrect. Merely that these vowels are entirely appropriate for the type of music being sung. However, these vowels are not very pretty for any other genre of singing.

Circle of Fifths



Image found here.


This is an example of the circle of fifths. This is the progression of key changes which typically follows one after another. The large letters on the outside of the circle represent the name of the key and are major. The small numbers on the inside represent the minor keys. The right side is all keys with sharps; the left side is all keys with flats. In addition to learning the progression of keys, this diagram will help you learn what key the song you would be singing is in. For more description and explanation of the Circle of Fifths, please click HERE.

Diaphragm

Here is a diagram of the diaphragm.

Notice that it is shaped a little like a parachute when it is completely stationary. It connects all the way around the lowest rib of the rib cage and lowers to allow air to fill the lungs. By using the diaphragm effectively, we can utelize the breath energy we need to be able to sing well.



Image found here.





Vowels

This video is a wonderful example of good vowels and care to keeping the face lifted. Beautiful example.

Example of Cheek Lift

This video is a good example of the cheek lift idea. Keeping everything up! Even if she's not singing a really upbeat song, Julie is great at keeping her face lifted.